The big kid world

I think there is a time in ones early adult life, when it feels like you are play-acting at something that really isnt real. That is where I am at right now.

Lots of things have happened over the last few days that have really scared me. Yesterday we got a nasty blizzard, and against our gut instincts, Chris and I went to work anyway. Even though we came home early, at 1, we got the car stuck 5 times just trying to put it in the garage.
In the process of getting it stuck and unstuck we managed to almost completly remove the bumper, which finished coming off on our way to work today. Needless to say, instead of going to work, I lost another 4 hours of PTO, which I am desperatly trying to save for maternity, at the car body shop. It is going to be almost 700 dollars to replace the bumper, which we need to do, because we now have all the wireing exposed to the snow. And there is lots of that. Then we found out that our anifreeze leak may very well be the water pump, which I replaced last year. That will cost 600$. Then there is some sort of issue with something that is causing the car to stall while it is idleing. We dont even know what that problem is, or how to fix it. They are going to run more tests on it next Wednesday, when we take it in to get a final quote on how to fix the antifreeze leak. So as of now, with 2 of the 3 known problems with the car, we are at 1300$, and the car itself worth maybe 700.

So we are starting to think about a new car. This is kind of tricky. Because we would like to spend cash on a car... and that means we will only have about 2500$ to work with. That would mean buying something at least 15 years old, and probably having the same type of trouble next year. Or, we could put the 2500$ down on a newer car, and be tied to a car loan. In which case, we would want to get something we could drive for several years after the car is paid off. Also, depending on the number of kids we have in the next 10 years, which we expect to be more than 2 or 3, we will need something with trade-in value when we buy a mini-van, or larger vehicle. Or should we just get the van now? It would be more price efficient to buy a smaller car with really good gas milage now.. So we found something this afternoon, that looks nice, but is at the top of our 10,000 dollar limit. (9,990 to be exact) It is an '07 Dodge Caliber. Low miles, about 22,000, and room for 3 car seats in the back, as well as some storage space. The salesman says it will get about 24 mpg in town, and over 30 on the highway.

So what do we do? We could get a car that would run well, and pay on it for a few years, or we could pay cash, and be in this same position in a couple years. Then we would have the same issue then. With the economy the way it is, do we want another loan. No. However, is it going to be feesable to just expect that we will be able to get another one when this one does die? Would we be better off trying to pay for one now, when we have two steady jobs, or hoping we will be able to afford it later?

Then the next question is, if we get the newer car, how much is our insurrance going to jump?

I keep waiting for someone to come knocking on my door and say, "Thats enough big kid play for you Jennie.. You need to come home and be a kid again"

One thing is for certain. I will never be able to understand how those who do not have the promises of God to lean on cope. One verse that has been in my head for the last 2 days is Romans 8:28. "And we know that all things work together for good, to them are in Christ Jesus, that are called according to his purpose." I am not sure if that is word for word or not. But it has helped me not to really freak out.

I hope you all are staying dry! Pray for those families who are losing their homes to the flooding. The worst is still to come this spring I think.
Have a great day!
Jennie